I am the Current CEO and co-founder of Scale Computing, I define myself as a serial entrepreneur – starting my first company at the age of 11. Now 37, I have proven myself not only as a pack leader but as a negotiator, fundraiser, technologist, marketer and trusted adviser, having started numerous companies and raising over $50 million in investment capital. Prior to founding Scale, I was co-founder and CEO of Corvigo where I oversaw the company from startup through funding to acquisition. I hold a degree in Computer Science from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Follow me on Twitter at @mcstartup.

CANTON, OH - AUGUST 8: Hall of Fame inductee Jerry Rice waves to the crowd before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals during the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Field at Fawcett Stadium on August 8, 2010 in Canton, Ohio. The Cowboys defeated the Bengals 16-7. (Image credit: Getty Images North America via @daylife)

I’d like to thank everyone who sent me comments and emails about my previous post. The vast majority of these were thoughtful responses – both positive and negative – and I appreciate that.

One of the challenges I had, and why I was hesitant to write about President Obama’s “you didn’t build it” comment in the first place, was because I knew it would be difficult to convey my thoughts without having the discussion turn highly political. I think I came pretty close to hitting the mark but given some of the feedback I received, I’d like to elaborate on the intent of my post.

My disappointment with the remarks (taken in their full context) is not with a particular policy of President Obama. Likewise, this article should not be taken to indicate some kind of endorsement or favoring of the Bush administration as providing better “infrastructure.” It should also not be taken to mean that I am endorsing particular policies of the Mitt Romney campaign in this context. Policy debate wasn’t the point of the article.

Instead, my disappointment is with the infrastructure in general, and with the President’s stated understanding of the influence of that infrastructure. Sure, I take issue with certain specific policies, but they aren’t necessarily tied to President Obama at all. The securities law of 1933 makes raising startup capital from your own parents illegal in many cases. That is not President Obama’s fault. It’s a part of the system that is not helping create businesses, jobs and competition. Can you imagine not being able to take a successful company public because years ago a family friend gave you the startup capital that launched your business and they weren’t an “accredited investor” as defined by the SEC?

That can really happen and it has real consequences. Why is it that private equity firms, like Bain Capital, hold so much power and leverage when it comes to startup companies? You need look no further than these same laws. Receiving a check from my own father might be illegal per the SEC. Receiving a check from a venture capitalist is not.

My article isn’t about Obama administration policy – it’s about a lack of appreciation of all the pieces of the “infrastructure” that are often stacked against the entrepreneur, and about a lack of understanding for how much the “good” pieces actually “help.”

Do entrepreneurs benefit from roads? Of course. Do roads offset the inability to legally raise startup capital from your neighbors? I doubt it. There are things that help and there are things that hurt, and on balance, there is a tremendous amount of difficulty and challenge put in place by the “infrastructure” itself.

It is also important that we not forget that any piece of infrastructure that does “help” is also of help to the competition. My competition wants me to go out of business. So the roads may help me, but they may help a competitor put me under. If Michael Dell can figure out a way to use the infrastructure to ensure that I never sell another computer system, he will. There is no doubt about that.

To use an analogy: The pass interference penalty helped Jerry Rice catch more balls. But the pass interference penalty didn’t make Jerry Rice the greatest receiver of all time, nor did it help Jerry Rice win football games. It helped him and it helped his competitors. Perhaps Jerry Rice would have caught fewer footballs without that penalty. But even if that is the case, the contribution to his career attributable to that penalty is insignificant relative to the work, struggle and practice he personally put into his own career.

It would be ridiculous to put a bust of Jerry Rice at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH and then attach to it a statue of the rules the committee that wrote the pass interference penalty. Jerry’s achievements are his own and they should be celebrated. He knows who helped him. He knows who doubted him. He knows what rules helped and he knows what rules hurt. In the end, it was up to him to get up at 5 a.m. and run that hill. It was up to him to spend his free time studying film. And, it is to his credit that he did all of those things, worked within the system and achieved greatness. All of the support and all of the rules of the game couldn’t run that hill for him.

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